Innovation has helped you survive this recession. Nurturing a culture of innovation will help lead you out of the recession and position your company for greater success in the years ahead.

To foster innovative thinking at every level of your organization, the old autocratic control style of management won’t work. Wherever a we-pay-you-to-work-not-think message prevails, innovative employees put their business-building energies into neutral.

Don’t let your best employees disconnect mentally and emotionally from the financial health of your business. In “The Rudolph Factor: Finding the Bright Lights that Drive Innovation in Your Business,” authors Cyndi Laurin and Craig Morningstar explain that 10 percent of any organization’s people are the real innovators who can connect the dots that others don’t see.

Recognizing these stars, removing barriers and providing resources for them to be successful are the keys to creating and managing a culture for innovation.

Recognize Innovative Thinkers

Innovative thinkers are not hard to spot, but for reasons you might not expect. They are often labeled as square pegs, radicals, misfits or loose cannons. Often appearing eccentric to others, they have an easier time than most at identifying the root cause of a problem and often express frustration at putting band-aids on symptoms of problems. They ask “why” a lot, which can make people around them feel uncomfortable.

On a more positive note, innovative thinkers light up when talking about their role or about a project they’re working on. They tend to quickly synthesize many variables to solve problems, which can make it appear that their ideas come out of the blue. (When this happens, ask them to clarify or further explain their thinking.)

Understanding these verbal cues can help you recognize the innovative thinkers in your organization. They are not like other employees and need an outlet to share ideas on a regular basis. Laurin and Morningstar suggest they may even need protection from their direct manager as well as ill-willed peers who may view them as a threat. Mostly, innovative thinkers need to feel they have permission to take risks and execute their ideas, but not in a haphazard fashion.

Whether you take full advantage of your innovative thinkers, ultimately, is your choice. By nurturing a participatory culture of innovation, vital business-building ideas are free to rise from the ground up. Bright and innovative employees are not only your greatest asset, they may be essential to your success in navigating today’s economic climate.